By Angus Harley

Rome’s newest venture is a document heralding its new-found Woke faith. It is called, “Enlarge the space of your tent” (hereafter “Tent”), a quote from Isaiah 54:2. The RC Church (RCC) is busy widening its view of its ‘tent,’ or church, to be super-inclusive and hyper-sensitive. There are a few things I want to draw your attention to.

Synodal Revelation

Back in the day, Rome was all about the Pope, and then under him the cardinals, and following them the whole mass of Catholicism. Since Vatican II, those days are over, and “Tent” witnesses to the death rattle of traditional Roman hierarchicalism. In its place is the modern synod. Now, back in the day, a synod was the pope, cardinals, and other top Catholics meeting in Rome to discuss church stuff. Sometimes the pope would give his seal of infallibility to a synod. The new synod is worldwide, literally. Every country, every Catholic diocese, every Catholic church, every Catholic of any and all sex, age, status, rank, and so forth, participated. It was, in other words, a gigantic survey of current opinion in the RCC. It is a document that is about how Rome should proceed, so the pope has not given to “Tent” his seal of infallibility, nor to the worldwide synod. But, he might has well have, for the new way of Rome is to let the people do the talking, for they are the voice of the Spirit of God.

“Nonetheless [“Tent] is theological in the sense that it is loaded with the exquisitely theological treasure contained in the experience of listening to the voice of the Spirit enacted by the People of God, allowing its sensus fidei to emerge.”[1]

The people are the new theologians and the new voice of the Spirit, and human experience is the new theology. Pope Paul III will be spitting out anathemas at Pope Francis like a helicopter’s minigun! And what do the people and the Spirit want?  They want to enlarge the space of the tent.

Enlarging the space of the tent

We are not talking here merely about the ecumenism of Vatican II. No, no, no! We’re way, way beyond that stage. No, the cool kids are all about that Woke thing! I have put some text in bold:

“39. Among those who ask for a more meaningful dialogue and a more welcoming space we also find those who, for various reasons, feel a tension between belonging to the Church and their own loving relationships, such as: remarried divorcees, single parents, people living in a polygamous marriage, LGBTQ people, etc. Reports show how this demand for welcome challenges many local Churches: “People ask that the Church be a refuge for the wounded and broken, not an institution for the perfect. They want the Church to meet people wherever they are, to walk with them rather than judge them, and to build real relationships through caring and authenticity, not a purpose of superiority” (EC USA). They also reveal uncertainties about how to respond and express the need for discernment on the part of the universal Church: “There is a new phenomenon in the Church that is absolutely new in Lesotho: same-sex relationships. […] This novelty is disturbing for Catholics and for those who consider it a sin. Surprisingly, there are Catholics in Lesotho who have started practising this behaviour and expect the Church to accept them and their way of behaving. […] This is a problematic challenge for the Church because these people feel excluded” (EC Lesotho). Those who left ordained ministry and married, too, ask for a more welcoming Church, with greater willingness to dialogue.”[2]

Complete and unequivocal embracing of gays in the RCC. But not just ‘gays’ and ‘lesbian’, but the other letters, too (BTQ). Just so we’re all clear on this:  T is for TRANSGENDER!

How large is large?

Your informed Catholics will be quick to point out that the above quote cites the RCC in Lesotho, and it is, overall, not happy with the presence of gays in the church. Instead of this being a problem for Rome or Francis, this complaint is absorbed by the new Rome, like a drop of water into an ocean. It doesn’t matter whether you’re hyper-conservative, ultra-liberal, or somewhere in between, all is good, and all are welcome, for all are the voice of the Spirit in this huge, ginormous tent. The new Rome is every man’s person’s Rome, multicolored, all inclusive, and 100% chic!

Someone will say that Francis spoke out quite recently against gender ideology. Here’s a quote from Francis , “ “Gender ideology, today, is one of the most dangerous ideological colonizations” ”.[3] However, in the interview, Francis is not saying that he’s against transgenders in his church. His point is that the view is wrong that thinks that gender can switch.

“It goes beyond the sexual. Why is it dangerous? Because it dilutes differences, and the richness of men and women and of all humanity is the tension of differences. It is growing through the tension of differences. The question of gender is diluting the differences and creating an equal world, all blunt, all the same. And that goes against the human vocation.”[4]

See how Francis states that the issue goes beyond the sexual. We’re not talking here about gay or lesbian sexual preferences. No. The problem with the modern movement is that traditional genders are being eroded and in their place a hydra of options for gender, or no gender at all.

Francis is not dismayed, for It is all about pastoral openness. The RCC must welcome all not only into the church but as the church. It is then the duty of each Christian to cast off sinful lifestyles, such as living as a homosexual. But the RCC will always recognize that someone is gay and help him not to make the mistake of committing gay sexual acts.

‘Evangelical Catholicism’?

If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard that this Catholic or that one is an evangelical. It is time for evangelicals to get wise. Modern RCism is a chameleon. It is of its very- modern- essence to absorb all forms of culture, including the evangelical one. They can speak about salvation by grace as well as any NCTer! But, they also believe in praying to Mary, the saints, the sacraments, etc., and, as the above shows, they are very, very pro-gay. Brothers and sisters, please don’t be naïve about the modern Catholic. Amen!

[1] General Secretariat of the Synod, “Enlarge the Space of your tent”, https://www.synod.va/content/dam/synod/common/phases/continental-stage/dcs/Documento-Tappa-Continentale-EN.pdf.

[2] Ibid., 21-22.

[3] Elisabetta Pique, “La Nacion interview with Pope Francis” “Gender ideology is on eof the most dangerous ideological colonozations”, La Nacion,  March 10, 2023, https://www.lanacion.com.ar/el-mundo/entrevista-de-la-nacion-con-el-papa-francisco-la-ideologia-del-genero-es-de-las-colonizaciones-nid10032023/.

[4] Ibid.